DThe Bundeswehr frigate Hessen unknowingly shot at a drone belonging to an allied country during its operation in the Red Sea. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense reported on Wednesday that the German warship had spotted a drone in the operational area on Monday that could not initially be assigned to any of the allied nations.
Hessen then tried to shoot down this drone, but was unsuccessful. “The case was resolved in that it was not a hostile drone, as it only became clear afterwards.” According to “Spiegel” information, it was said to have been a US Reaper-type drone. The drone was only not shot down due to a technical defect in two German anti-aircraft missiles. The two rockets fell into the sea.
During a visit to troops on Wednesday in Oberviechtach, Bavaria, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) confirmed that the incident had occurred the evening before, “in which shots were fired, but no one was hit.” It was a reconnaissance drone.
The Ministry of Defense did not say which country this drone was subsequently assigned to. However, a spokesman expressly emphasized that before the shelling, the Hessians had asked all allied nations, in which no country had reported its own drone in the area of operation. Only later did it turn out that it was an unreported drone.
According to “Spiegel”, the drone was not traveling for the US-led military mission “Prosperity Guardian”. Therefore, an inquiry with the mission’s US Marine colleagues did not provide any information, as the Reaper drone was probably used as part of an American anti-terror mission in the region.
Defense Minister Pistorius visiting troops in Oberviechtach, Bavaria, on Wednesday
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Image: dpa
It was also announced on Wednesday that the frigate Hessen, which is used to protect merchant ships, repelled an attack by the Houthi militia operating from Yemen for the first time on Tuesday evening and shot down two drones.
Pistorius said that a first drone was spotted and intercepted around 8 p.m. on Tuesday evening. 15 minutes later, a second one “that was approaching the ship” was successfully fought. In accordance with its mission, the frigate was patrolling the southern Red Sea in the region assigned to it at the time in question.
CSU defense politician speaks of ammunition problem
Meanwhile, the defense policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Florian Hahn (CSU), pointed out a possible ammunition problem in Hesse. “We have only now found out when we asked that some of the ammunition from the Hessen frigate can no longer be procured because there is no longer the corresponding industrial capacity,” Hahn told the newspaper “Welt” on Wednesday.
“So when the stocks are depleted, the Navy can no longer refill them – and has to withdraw the frigate,” Hahn added. The defense politician accused the traffic light coalition of having concealed this issue from the opposition for months. “Parliament decided to deploy without knowing that there was obviously an ammunition problem with the class 124 frigate,” said Hahn.
The Hessen was sent to the region with 240 soldiers on board as part of the EU naval mission Aspides to protect merchant shipping and has been in use since Friday. The pro-Iranian Houthi militia, which controls many areas in the north of the civil war-torn Yemen, has been attacking ships in the Red Sea for several months.
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